Hill and Stewart was a chain of appliance and

electronics The field of electronics is a branch of physics and electrical engineering that deals with the emission, behaviour and effects of electrons using electronic devices. Electronics uses active devices to control electron flow by amplification ...

stores in

Auckland Auckland (pronounced ) ( mi, Tāmaki Makaurau) is a large metropolitan city in the North Island of New Zealand. The most populous urban area in the country and the fifth largest city in Oceania, Auckland has an urban population of about ...

, operating between 1951 and 2010.

History

1950s-1980s

The company was founded by war veteran St John Hill and his business partner John Stewart in

Auckland CBD The Auckland Central Business District (CBD), or Auckland city centre, is the geographical and economic heart of the Auckland metropolitan area. It is the area in which Auckland was established in 1840, by William Hobson. It is New Zealand's l ...

in 1951. Hill was operating a secondhand appliance shop on Wyndham Street, when the pair gained a sought-after franchise to sell

Fisher and Paykel Fisher & Paykel Appliances Holdings Ltd () is a major appliance manufacturer which is a subsidiary of Chinese multinational home appliance manufacturer Haier. It is a multinational corporation based in East Tāmaki, New Zealand. Originally a ...

appliances and opened their first shop on Queen Street. The business was successful, and opened new stores in

Karangahape Road Karangahape Road (commonly known as K' Road) is one of the main streets in the central business district (CBD) of Auckland, New Zealand. The massive expansion of motorways through the nearby inner city area – and subsequent flight of resident ...

Takapuna Takapuna is a suburb located on the North Shore of Auckland, New Zealand. The suburb is situated at the beginning of a south-east-facing peninsula forming the northern side of the Waitematā Harbour. While very small in terms of population, it ...

and Newmarket over the next few years. In 1999, there were ten stores around Auckland. Stewart's home phone number appeared on the chain's advertisements for many years, so that customers could contact him directly with any problems they had. Few people actually rang him, and those who did were unfailingly polite.

1980-2006

Most stores were sold to owner-operators by the early 1980s, but still operated under the Hill and Stewart name. Stewart sold the last company store in Takapuna in 1987. Hill and Stewart was sentenced for breaching the Fair Trading Act twice in 1999, and once in 2007.

2006-2010

The chain was purchased by

JB Hi-Fi JB Hi-Fi Limited is an Australian consumer electronics and home appliances retail company. It is publicly listed on the Australian Securities Exchange. Its headquarters are located in Southbank, Melbourne, Victoria. The company has 316 store ...

in 2006, to operate alongside its own network of stores. There were 11 Hill and Stewart branded stores in 2007. Six Hill and Stewart stores were still operating in 2009. One was rebranded as JB Hi-Fi, three were closed in the latter half of 2009, and the final two were closed in early 2010. The

Westfield St Lukes Westfield St Lukes, one of the big three shopping centres in the western suburbs of Auckland, New Zealand, stands on St Lukes Road in the suburb of Mount Albert. It receives about 6 million shopper visits annually. With 43,000 m² gross floor are ...

store continued to operate until stock was sold out.

References

{{Retailers in New Zealand Consumer electronics retailers of New Zealand Retail companies established in 1951 New Zealand companies established in 1951 2010 disestablishments in New Zealand Defunct retail companies of New Zealand